QuestionQUESTION: Hello Roland,
I'm having a strange problem with the oh-so classical sparking problems on these vehicle engines.
I have a spark, but I dont know if its weak or not. I've pulled the cables off the plugs to check for a spark, and i'm getting a spark one for the first 3-5 seconds and then it dissapears.
Some cilinders dont even spark at all!
I've changed the wires about a year ago for autozone duralast ones. I'm checking for a spark using one of those tools at autozone which you attach the cable to and clamp it on the chassis - i'm using an old wire that i attach to different ports on the cap instead of pulling the wires individually...
Ive done a few tests:
For the distributor
Voltage between tan/yellow and black/light blue is 5.0v and .15v
8v on the orange wire
Resistance between the tower of the coil and body is 14,800 ohms
Voltage between 12v wire and pin 6 is 0.25v if I put the positive probe against the 12v wire, or 0.35v if I put the negative probe against the 12v wire (which one is it by the way?)
Resistance of 5000 ohms on the distributor cap center to cap tower
I switched the ASD relay for another similar
I've switched the cam sensor for another that works, they both pulse rotating the engine.
I've also switched the crank sensor for another one that also works, though i havent tested it yet because i know it's good.
ANSWER: Hi Pete,
Let me check the manual and study/think about this and then get back to you this evening.
Roland
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hello Roland,
Alright, some news on this topic. Apparently the plugs were going bad, I bought some new ones factory spec. So that made it run a bit better.
But this seems to be a 2 part problem. I have a spark now, no doubt.!
The problem is the fuel, either the pump, the injectors or the power to the injectors - Though most likely something with the injectors, let me ellaborate.
I'm getting the following codes:
P0106
P0122
P01496
From what i've read the first two problems seem to cause the car to not start. But i'm quite lost as to what to do next. I've used aerosol to startup the car and it works half the time. The times when it will start it will have a very difficult and rough start.
You're probably going to tell me to check for 5v, but what then?
Thanks!!
AnswerHi Pete,
Good work on the spark issue! And the fault codes you now have point in one direction: the 5v supply circuit.
Yes, check the voltage on the violet/white wire at the TPS. If it is indeed low then you need to remove that sensor, the MAP sensor, and the AC pressure sensor, ONE AT A TIME, to see if any of those sensors is faulty by observing for change in the reading on the wire. If that is not successful, then you have to check at each of those sensors to see if the violet/white wire shows a short to ground, and also wiggle the harness while doing that and you would do those tests with the 41-80 pcm plug removed from the pcm. The decision tree approach to do the above covers several pages, but the idea is: The 5v supply is at pin 61 of the pcm and it connects only to the three sensors I mentioned via a splice that is in a harness located at close proximity to the egr valve (so also look for possible melting of the insulation of the violet/white wires and the splice).
Please 'rate' my answer once again and consider giving another nomination.
Thanks,
Roland
